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The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing to amend the pork products inspection regulations to eliminate line speed limits for NSIS establishments and allow NSIS establishments to determine their line speeds based on their ability to maintain process control. FSIS intends to republish 9 CFR 310.26(c) (previously struck down by the U.S. District Court of the District of Minnesota) to eliminate the existing maximum line speed of 1,106 head per hour (hph) for NSIS establishments. The worker safety study found that line speed is not a leading factor for work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in swine slaughter establishments.

In October 2019, FSIS established the NSIS (84 FR 52300). The NSIS regulations, among other things, eliminated the existing maximum line speed of 1,106 hph for NSIS establishments and authorized establishments to determine their own line speeds based on their ability to maintain process control and food safety.

On June 30, 2021, based on a court decision, all NSIS establishments had to return to a maximum linespeed of 1,106 hph, unless an establishment has obtained a regulatory waiver from FSIS. 

In November 2021, in response to a court decision, FSIS announced that the agency, in collaboration with OSHA, developed a time-limited trial (TLT) that allowed existing NSIS establishments to experiment with ergonomics, automation, and crewing to create custom work environments that will both protect food safety and worker safety while increasing productivity. The TLT has allowed six NSIS establishments to operate at increased line speeds under regulatory waivers. During the TLT, third-party contractors that the Agency hired to conduct a worker safety study in NSIS establishments collected data that measures how evisceration line speeds impact work-related MSD risk. 

In January 2025,USDA published the contractor’s report on the linespeed worker safety study.The study concluded that piece rate (i.e., the number of hog parts handled per minute by a worker) is a better measure of MSD risk than line speed and that all establishments, regardless of current or anticipated future increased line speed, can mitigate MSD risk by increasing job-specific staffing levels, decreasing job-specific line speeds, or both. On March 17, 2025, USDA announced that it would extend the waivers and that rulemaking to propose line speed increases would begin immediately.    

Republishing and amending 9 CFR 310.26(c) to eliminate maximum linespeeds at NSIS establishments would reduce regulatory uncertainty and allow industry to operate more efficiently, likely reducing their production costs by optimizing their production process without compromising food safety. 

This proposed rule, if finalized, would benefit NSIS establishments operating with a line speed waiver by eliminating potential regulatory uncertainty regarding the duration of the waivers. Allowing NSIS establishments currently operating without a line speed waiver to operate without a line speed limit would likely result in cost  savings through reducing their production costs. This proposed rule may also benefit non-NSIS establishments that voluntarily choose to switch to NSIS and operate at more efficient line speeds.  

If an NSIS establishment currently operating without a line speed waiver chooses to increase their line speeds, they would likely incur costs associated with hiring additional labor, training, and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan reassessment. Non-NSIS establishments that voluntarily choose to convert to NSIS would incur costs for hiring additional labor, training, ready to cook requirements, and HACCP plan reassessment. An establishment would only incur these costs if the benefits outweigh the costs, since the choice to operate at increased line speeds is a voluntary business decision.